Putin formally gets Crimea; Ukraine, EU sign deal

Friday

Mar 21, 2014 at 12:00 PM

President Vladimir Putin completed his annexation of Crimea on Friday, signing a law making the Black Sea peninsula part of Russia just as Ukraine itself sealed a deal pulling it closer into Europe's orbit.

The Associated Press

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin completed his annexation of Crimea on Friday, signing a law making the Black Sea peninsula part of Russia just as Ukraine itself sealed a deal pulling it closer into Europe's orbit.

Putin said he saw no need to further retaliate against U.S. sanctions, a newly conciliatory tone that apparently aimed to contain one of the worst crises in Russia's relations with the West since the Cold War. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry said a few hours later that Moscow will "harshly" respond to the latest round of U.S. sanctions — the conflicting signals apparently intended to persuade the West to end the spat over Ukraine.

At Ukrainian bases on the peninsula, troops hesitated, besieged by Russian forces and awaiting orders. Russia claimed some had already switched sides and agreed to join the Russian military. Friday had been the deadline for Ukrainian troops to leave Crimea, join the Russian military or demobilize.

Russia rushed the annexation of the strategic peninsula after residents there voted in a hastily called referendum Sunday to leave Ukraine and join Russia. Ukraine and the West have rejected the vote, saying it was held at gunpoint since Russian troops had seized control of Crimea two weeks earlier. The U.S. and EU have responded to the crisis by slapping sanctions on Russia.

Putin hailed the incorporation of Crimea into Russia as a "remarkable event" before he signed the parliament bills into law Friday in the Kremlin. He also ordered fireworks in Moscow and Crimea.

At nearly the same time in a ceremony in Brussels, Ukraine's new prime minister pulled his nation closer to Europe by signing a political association agreement with the European Union. It was the same deal that touched off Ukraine's political crisis, the deal that President Viktor Yanukovych rejected in November, igniting the months of protests that drove him from office and sent him fleeing to Russia.

"Russia decided to actually impose a new post-Cold War order and revise the results of the Second World War," Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said in Brussels. "The best way to contain Russia is to impose real economic leverage over them."

President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered a second round of sanctions against nearly two dozen members of Putin's inner circle and a major bank supporting them.

Moscow retaliated by banning nine U.S. officials and lawmakers from entering Russia, but Putin indicated that Russia would likely refrain from curtailing cooperation in areas such as Afghanistan. Moscow appears to hope to limit the damage.

But the latest U.S. sanctions, which targeted Putin's chief of staff along with other senior Kremlin aides and four businessmen considered to be his lifelong friends, dealt a painful blow to Russia. Obama also warned that more sweeping penalties against Russia's economy, including its robust energy sector, could follow.

"The economic impact of the sanctions is already visible — on the stock exchange, the value of the Ruble, the investment climate," EU President Herman Van Rompuy told VRT network.

The EU on Friday added 12 more people to bring its list of those facing visa ban and asset freeze sanctions to 33. According to a document obtained on Friday by the Associated Press, the list included some of Russian officials and lawmakers targeted by the first round of U.S. sanctions Monday.

Beyond the targeting of officials linked to the annexation of the Crimea Peninsula, the EU leaders also decided at their summit to prepare economic sanction in case the situation in eastern Ukraine would deteriorate further.

Putin tried to play down the sanctions' toll on Russia at Friday's televised session of the presidential Security Council.

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